Rider Strong Never Liked Being a Teen Heartthrob on "Boy Meets World"

One of the best bad boys from the '90s finally vents about his fans — and his hair.

Most Read

If you grew up in the 90s and are romantically interested in men, chances are this Boy Meets World star is no stranger to you. You more than likely had a crush on him (and Jonathan Taylor Thomas and Mark-Paul Gosselaar). If you were a boy, you probably wanted his hair. But Rider had this to say about his Christian Slater-like hair and being a teen heartthrob: "It just wasn't for me."

Cosmo: Boy Meets World: The Complete Collection comes out on DVD on November 5, but it feels like the show ended yesterday. How did it feel to be a 90s icon-slash-teen heartthrob?

Rider Strong: I was never super-comfortable with it to be honest. I'm not a shy person, but I'm not the guy who wants to get his picture taken and want to be front and center. But, I didn't even realize that I had been put into a certain category in American pop culture until long after. Somehow it was me, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Mark-Paul Gosselaar, and a few other guys that were on safe shows, but our characters were relatively edgy. And while our characters weren't doing drugs or anything provocative, we were portrayed as angsty rebellious teenagers that teen girls went crazy for. It would just be weird to go somewhere and have groups of girls scream and hyperventilate in front of you. I think it all stems from Beatle-mania — it feels like a very obligatory response. If I ever had a meet and greet with a fan, she would be shy and quiet usually. I don't know, I think I was a bad, good teen idol. [Laughs]

/div>

Cosmo: Can we please talk about your hair for a second? I heard you hated the style on the show, but everyone else who was your age at the time was obsessed. Did you really not like it?

RS: I hated my hair. I came to the audition with that hairstyle, got the part, and the director Michael Jacobs never let me cut it from there on out. A bunch of girls at a sleepover told me to wear my hair like that — parted down the center — and I was 12, so I listened. It was my version of Christina Slater. But my hair is wavy and they would straighten it on the show and it would take forever. I wanted to cut my hair so bad, but the only time I got to was when we found out the show was going to be canceled.

Cosmo: Now that it's been announced that Girl Meets World is coming out in 2014, will we see you in that?

RS: I'm not quite sure yet. Nothing is official, but I'd like to direct. My brother and I are doing more behind-the-scenes things these days like directing, so hopefully we'll get to do some of that. But, I'll probably have to make an appearance at some point because my character was such a big part of Boy Meets World, so we'll see!

Cosmo: Will you have your signature hairstyle?

RS: No, not at all. Although I could see them trying to make me wear a 90s wig. [Laughs]

Cosmo: Speaking of Boy Meets World, did you have the biggest crush on Danielle Fishel like everyone else?

RS: No, no. Danielle and I were always very brotherly/sisterly. She was 11 at the time and still a little girl, and I was 13 and entering puberty, so I was just slightly more mature in some ways, but in more of an older brother kind of way. I love her though and we get along so great, and her husband Tim is so amazing. If you think about it, we all grew up and did everything together, so it was like summer camp, theatre program, and school mixed together for seven years, so with that there's so much emotion behind these connections, we'll always be close.

Cosmo: OK, so Boy Meets World fans want to know: What was your favorite episode?

RS: We did some really bizarre episodes, but we did this one parody of the halloween horror movies coming out at the time. The basis of the story was about Shawn dealing with Cory and Topanga breaking up, and how he couldn't deal with it since his character's parents got divorced. But the actual show was a dream sequence and very over the top, so it allowed us to have some freedom and fun. We got to do things we usually wouldn't do on the show. For example, Jennifer Love Hewitt showed up because she was dating Will Friedle at the time, so she made an appearance. It was cool because it was different.

My other favorite was the fifth episode — that's where Topanga was introduced into the show, where my character became a bigger part, and where everything fell into place. The show was supposed to be more about Cory and his family — director Michael James wanted to do something on the middle brother, but something happened in the show's adaptation where the friendship between Cory and Shawn developed, and then Cory and Topanga became a thing, so it became more about relationships and the situations that we were placed in.

Cosmo: Do you keep in touch with them all now?

RS: I moved to New York when the show ended to go to school, but we all stayed in touch. Will Friedle is my best friend, so we always talk, but the rest of us get together for dinner every six months — it's been wonderful.

Cosmo: I know you recently got married, congratulations! Did you know Danielle was also getting married that weekend?

RS: That was my fault, I mixed up the dates. My wife and I wanted to get married on a summer camp and they only had one date available, so we booked it. Then, two days later my wife called me to tell me that it was the same weekend as Danielle's. I felt horrible, but I knew Ben [Savage], the directors, and everyone had to be at her wedding — especially because I wanted ours to be small. So, I just told everyone they had to go to Danielle's. Will came to mine though, but I gave a pass to everyone else.

Cosmo: Lastly, I don't know if you know this or not, but you were one of our first throw back thursday ladyboners of the day. How do you feel about that?

RS: [Laughs] How am I supposed to react to being a lady boner? I just think it's so weird. I'm still not super-comfortable with being any sort of pin-up, but I'm grateful. [Laughs] I guess I'm humbled by the ladybonerness.